Poll: Nearly half of California voters say they can't afford living in the state

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USA TODAY

A new poll has found nearly half of California voters believe they can't afford to live here.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday reports that 43 percent of California voters said they can't afford to live there. That number was driven by younger voters: 61 percent of voters age 18 to 34 said they can't afford to live in California.

"For many Californians, life is less than golden in the Golden State," the release quotes Tim Malloy, assistant director of the poll.

The most expensive – the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area – has a cost of living 27.1 percent higher than the national average, the analysis found. The monthly cost of living for a family of four is $10,758, the analysis found.

A rise in high-paying tech jobs has contributed to a tight housing market and a growing homelessness problem along the West Coast. That has multiple California cities to pass high-profile legislative actions to combat the issue.

San Francisco voters passed a proposition in November to levy a tax on the city's wealthiest companies and use the money to increase funding for homelessness services. San Francisco ranks among the least affordable cities in the nation, with a median single-family home value approaching $1 million.

“It’s certainly not a permanent solution to the crisis that we are facing,” City Councilman Mark Kersey told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But 100 percent of the time, I’d rather have someone sleeping in a car than on the sidewalk.”

Contributing: Kristin Lam, USA TODAY

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Morning traffic moves smoothly near the base of the Conejo Grade on Highway 101 near Camarillo on a recent Tuesday. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 22 percent of the county’s working population commute out of the region for work. A lack of well-paying jobs in Ventura County is cited as the main reason.(Photo: ANTHONY PLASCENCIA/THE STAR)